Waves Of Technicians

Every six months or so we've been hiring in dozens of new electronic technicians. The tech industry is picking up steam and we need qualified people badly. Problem is, everyone else in the industry also needs people so the competition is becoming fierce. Squirmy is on an interviewing team of managers that flies around the country to universities and job fairs to try and recruit fresh meat for Bill and Dave's grinder. It works out well enough for us here on the shop floor because while Squirmy is out for a couple of weeks doing screening interviews, we get alot more work done without him being in our hair.

Bill and Dave's company enjoys a healthy advantage over most other big electronics employers. Here, we have an almost legendary reputation for treating employees extremely well. This is true if you compare us to other employers right now, but our culture of good treatment and exceptional benefits is fading fast. Lately the plan of attack at job fairs has been to offer prospective technicians a lucrative relocation package and a high starting wage. This is all sensible until you realize what happens once these new employees show up on the job for their training. The technicians that train the new people are making much less salary than the new hires. Inevitably the techs we hired in six months ago get to talking with their trainees and they discover how much more money Bill and Dave's threw down on their hourly wages to woo them over. It's pissing alot of people off.

There's a backlash brewing. Veteran technicians have complained to their supervisors about being paid less than the starting salary of new-hire technicians. Because Bill and Dave's management won't address the issue, some of our best people have already quit. Growing discontent is becoming common in the ranks of the technicians that stay on with us. They resent being paid significantly less than the people they have to train, and why shouldn't they resent it? It's wrong.